Chapter 748: Less than two months later, the box office exploded again.
"What do you think of this drama?" Lu Yanhe asked Yan Liang.
Yan Liang nodded.
“Lian Bei is very good at capturing details,” he said. “Moreover, he pays special attention to ensuring that there is a pause between each scene. I really like this design of his. He said that this is a hallmark that distinguishes ‘Jiang Yan’ from other dramas.”
“That’s good. If nothing unexpected happens, ‘Chinese Paladin’ will be broadcast this summer. Let’s see if it can attract more students who are on vacation at home to watch the show.” Lu Yanhe said, “Linghe will come to you later and sign a supplementary agreement with you. Based on the peripheral development you do for the character in the show, you can enjoy 20% of the revenue. My figure is the same as Li Zhibai’s. Let me tell you about it first.”
Yan Liang nodded, indicating that he was okay.
Is Linghe planning to develop related merchandise based on "The Legend of Sword and Fairy"?
“Hmm.” Lu Yanhe nodded. “This drama is very suitable for merchandise development, especially during the September back-to-school season. We’ve already talked to ‘Bai Xing’ stationery, which I endorse, and a stationery set themed around the Legend of Sword and Fairy will definitely be released. In addition, some daily consumer goods brands are also in contact with us. The market enthusiasm is even greater than I expected.”
"After all, this is the first time the three of us have acted in a drama together," Yan Liang said with a smile. "I'm really looking forward to seeing how this drama turns out."
“I’m looking forward to it too,” Lu Yanhe said. “I’m thinking now, through the summer season, can we get this group of students back in front of the TV and help us set a new ratings record?”
Yan Liang hesitated for a moment and said, "Would the student council be willing to sit in front of the TV and watch it?"
"It's not impossible," Lu Yanhe said. "Nowadays, many students are strictly controlled by their parents regarding their internet time, but they are not so strictly controlled when it comes to watching TV. This time, 'Chinese Paladin' will also leave a 24-hour window for TV stations, just like 'Friends'."
"Are you serious about breaking viewership records?"
“Hmm.” Lu Yanhe nodded. “Because the online viewership data for ‘Chinese Paladin’ will definitely be very good, there’s no doubt about that, I’m not worried at all. And ‘Chinese Paladin’… its fan base might be stronger than that of mainstream sitcoms like ‘Friends’ and ‘My Own Swordsman’. If this show can create a word-of-mouth effect among students, with them discussing and watching it together, then the increase in viewership will be much stronger than that of ‘Friends’ and ‘My Own Swordsman’. Adults always have a lot of other things to do, but the lives of students are much simpler.”
Students, especially middle and high school students, are generally not allowed to go out at night. If they're not allowed to go out, then they have to stay at home, right?
Option 1: Study.
Option two: Internet access—provided that parents allow it.
Option 3: Watch a TV series that is very popular among students.
Of course, different people will certainly have other different options. But broadly speaking, they will definitely fall into these categories. In fact, option three is not an option in itself; making it one of the options is something that Linghe and Yuehutai need to work on seriously during this period.
Lu Yanhe has great faith in the loyalty of the "Chinese Paladin" fans. Many might say, in this timeline, without the game, could the drama still be so popular… To be honest, how many of the viewers of "Chinese Paladin" have actually played the game? Its enduring popularity must be due to the story itself being so moving.
Yan Liang hadn't expected that Lu Yanhe would have such high expectations for "The Legend of Sword and Fairy".
In fact, according to current market standards, "Chinese Paladin" is not a drama that can set records in terms of story theme and style.
Currently, the most popular shows in the market are either realistic dramas that spark widespread social discussion and have high national recognition, ancient costume dramas (including fantasy dramas), or the two sitcom series written by Lu Yanhe, "Friends" and "My Own Swordsman". Other shows, even those like "The Summit" starring Yan Liang and "Seventeen Floors" starring Lu Yanhe himself, can only be considered niche hits, not phenomenal works.
A phenomenon is one that leaves a significant mark on the social trends of that year.
If *Chinese Paladin* targets the youth market, Lu Yanhe believes it will at best be a hit drama, but it will be difficult to differentiate itself from other dramas, even with the three of them as the leads. However, if the drama can attract a large group of fans and viewers—
To put it bluntly, the audience for "Tiny Times" is definitely one of the most "narrow" categories. However, even after more than a decade, it still lives on in this bustling online world, constantly being discussed and discussed. "Tiny Times" can actually prove a fact: a work can survive as long as it has a group of fans who steadfastly support and love it (rather than blindly chasing trends when they become popular).
Compared to "Tiny Times", "Chinese Paladin" has received much better reviews.
Lu Yanhe believes that "Chinese Paladin" is definitely not the most-watched TV series this year. However, if we're talking about a TV series that creates a social phenomenon, "Chinese Paladin" is certainly a contender, at least in terms of the most popular TV series among students.
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With the completion and delivery of the post-production of "Chinese Paladin", the second payment from Yuehutai, Aurora Video, and Icefield Video finally arrived.
The first payment came when filming started, the second payment came when the film was delivered, and the third payment came when it was broadcast.
The most significant stroke was the one made when the film was handed over.
The three companies paid a total of 250 million yuan for the film's copyright. Adding the first payment of 100 million yuan, the total is 350 million yuan. Once the series airs and the third payment is received, the series will generate 420 million yuan in revenue.
According to their cooperation agreement, depending on the broadcast performance during the peak period (within 90 days after the online broadcast), they will need to pay an additional "incentive copyright compensation fee", with the highest total amount reaching 100 million yuan. This means that the show can generate 520 million yuan in revenue during its initial broadcast.
This figure will break the record for the purchase price of domestic TV dramas.
This is no longer the era of "nouveau riche" where hot money poured in.
A few years ago, as long as it was a top-tier lead actor or a major drama with more than 35 episodes, it could basically sell for more than 350 million yuan (for example, according to BJ Jiesheng Century's 2021 financial report, the revenue brought by the drama "Ace Troops" reached 350 million yuan).
Now that major platforms have collectively entered the "cost reduction and efficiency improvement" phase, the fact that "Chinese Paladin" can still sell for such a price is only possible with screenwriter Lu Yanhe, the three lead actors, and a top director like Luo Yuzhong at the helm.
In the current environment, it would be quite good if other S+ dramas could sell 300 million copies.
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However, Yuehutai and his team obviously wouldn't sign a contract that would put them at a disadvantage.
This drama series attracted the attention of major brands as soon as filming began.
They have to pay Linghe an advance payment, and advertisers also have to pay them an advance payment in order to compete for advertising slots in the show.
Lu Yanhe specifically told them that the publicity should focus on students, especially junior and senior high school students.
They also took Lu Yanhe's suggestion very seriously.
After all, Lu Yanhe's "propaganda suggestions" had repeatedly created "propaganda miracles".
After some discussion and communication, the three parties finalized the broadcast schedule for the 32-episode TV series.
One episode a day, each episode is forty minutes long, which will be just in time to finish airing during the summer vacation.
Their first promotional slogan was—
This summer, let's return to the world of classic fantasy!
Subsequently, Chen Yin, one of the producers of the drama, accepted an interview program on Yuehu TV. In fifteen minutes, he mentioned with a smile: "The core of this drama is youthful chivalry. It is not a romance drama. It is the classic fantasy stories we read when we were young, a story of a group of passionate, flesh-and-blood young men and women doing their best to save the world."
"It's perfect for teenagers. It was the kind of TV series I most wanted to watch when I was in school. It's about fighting demons and monsters, about justice, integrity, and righteousness. It's youthful and passionate. It's the kind of dream that everyone might have had in their heart, the kind of dream that only exists in adolescence."
"Our broadcast schedule is one episode per day. Parents don't need to worry about their children spending too much time watching this show every day. Spending forty minutes watching one episode in the evening will not affect their studies or rest."
Everyone was stunned.
Because it has been a long time since a TV series has so openly targeted students as its audience.
Why?
One very important reason—
There is a general consensus that young people have long since abandoned television.
This is especially true for students.
More importantly, compared to a huge viewership market, the student population is actually not that large.
Why did "The Legend of Sword and Fairy" make such a focus in its promotion?
Film and television companies in the industry are buzzing with discussion.
Many people are puzzled by Linghe's actions.
However, everyone quickly put this point of confusion behind them.
As soon as news broke about "The Legend of Sword and Fairy," it immediately became a trending topic on various platforms.
Yuehu TV first used its own commercial breaks to announce four times a day that "Chinese Paladin" would be broadcast during this summer's TV season.
The first trailer, only 5 seconds long, mainly features director Na Woo-jong and the all-star cast to generate buzz.
The video of the Northern Lights and the video of the ice field simultaneously opened pop-up windows, inviting users to reserve the show. The keyword information in the pop-up window was also "this summer".
This is clearly a warm-up.
But, a warm-up?
More and more TV dramas are now being aired "suddenly." Ironically, the number of episodes in TV dramas has been reduced, with a maximum of thirty or so, less than forty, and they generally finish airing in about half a month. In this information-saturated age, such a time window makes it very difficult for a hit drama to emerge.
If you don't do pre-broadcast promotion and publicity to let more people know about the show before it airs and look forward to it, thus building a large initial audience, and then wait for the broadcast to launch a large-scale promotional campaign to "snowball" the show, the previous two-month broadcast period allowed a high-quality show to snowball bigger and bigger. Now, with such a short broadcast period, even if the quality is good, the time it can snowball is ultimately limited.
However, due to the unstable broadcasting environment and the fact that online streaming platforms have joined the battle with TV stations, setting a release date for each TV series seems to have become an extremely difficult task. Setting a release date four or five days in advance is already a remarkable achievement.
This year, there's only one drama like "Chinese Paladin" that started its release date announcement and pre-release hype a quarter in advance.
The reason it was able to do this was because "Chinese Paladin" was a major production, and its production company, Linghe, had considerable influence, allowing them to affect the platforms' scheduling. Therefore, under these circumstances, they could include the drama in the broadcast schedules of all three platforms a quarter in advance and develop corresponding promotional plans based on those schedules.
Lu Yanhe's emphasis on this drama has led all three platforms to place high hopes on it.
Even though Yuehu TV has a 24-hour window, each episode can only be released on video platforms 24 hours after it airs on Yuehu TV.
Lu Yanhe has always emphasized: "In this day and age, if you are still worried that the audience of TV stations will be diverted, then you are too insecure. If the TV station's ratings can break records, it will only make the audience of the show bigger, not smaller than the audience of the video platform."
The problem with TV dramas these days isn't that they're competing with each other for viewers, but that other forms of entertainment are competing with them for viewers.
The biggest difference between the Chinese and American markets is that the American market has been gradually developed over decades or even centuries, and its potential has been clearly calculated over that long period. However, the Chinese market is a hidden iceberg. You might think you've seen an iceberg and believe it's already huge, the ceiling of the industry, but in reality, if you can truly stimulate this market, you'll find that the iceberg is only the tip of the iceberg.
The fact that "Ne Zha 2" single-handedly pushed the ceiling from the top of the tallest building all the way to the stratosphere proves this point. The fact that "Capernaum," a film that seemed destined for box office failure, managed to sell hundreds of millions of copies in China also illustrates this.
In the US, a large audience has established movie-going habits, so box office performance for many films can be predicted based on market trends. However, in China, unfortunately, simply hearing that a film is particularly good doesn't guarantee a large enough audience to regularly go to the cinema to watch it.
The same applies to TV dramas now.
To attract a large audience for a TV series, you need to achieve the same level of popularity as shows like "The First Half of My Life" and "The Storm," where ordinary people are discussing the show, and it's displayed on the screens of many people's phones on the subway. This requires a massive audience base.
But this requires time to develop.
There are too many people in China, and too much information online; it will take time to break through.
"The Storm" didn't become that popular on its second day of airing.
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Soon after, "Jump Up," a self-media platform under the "Relics Stories" group, announced that it would join forces with the cast and crew of "Chinese Paladin" to tell the "Relics Stories" of the filming locations of "Chinese Paladin."
The self-media account "Stories of Relics" has more than three million followers.
This promotional model, however, does not require the film company to pay for promotion.
Linghe's film and television dramas often obtain promotional resources through resource exchange, which saves costs while achieving the desired results.
This is also because "The Legend of Sword and Fairy" has its own built-in audience, and by bringing it along, the related content of "Relic Story" will also attract many new fans.
This is, of course, just the beginning.
Shortly after, Jiangzhi, one of the filming locations for "Chinese Paladin", released a cultural tourism promotional video.
In the video, internationally renowned geographer Jay Hines filmed a video of the Haolan River, one of the filming locations for the TV series "Chinese Paladin".
The video is 3 minutes long.
At dawn, the water is shrouded in mist; in the afternoon, dappled sunlight filters through the waves; at dusk, fishing boats sing their evening songs. In the stillness of the night, a gentle breeze caresses the face; a lone fisherman in a small boat, lantern in hand, fishes through the night.
This video serves as both a promotion for Jiangzhi's cultural tourism and a promotion for the game "The Legend of Sword and Fairy".
Because at the end of the video, the video screen gradually turned into an ink painting, and then several characters from "Chinese Paladin" appeared in the ink painting, which was then gradually rendered into a realistic scene.
On the boat, Li Zhibai and his companions sat or stood, full of high spirits.
That's a scene from the game "Chinese Paladin".
This video was pushed across the entire internet.
From an official perspective, this is a local cultural and tourism promotional video, but it was shot by an internationally renowned geographer, which gives it international dissemination value. As a result, official media accounts of all sizes are forwarding and praising it.
For the general public, this video is indeed beautifully shot.
This plan was proposed by Lu Yanhe.
He thought of this because he remembered a very popular local cultural tourism promotion video he had seen before, about Dongjiang Lake in Chenzhou, Hunan. There was a GIF that went viral online – at dawn, the smoke from the water pipes blended with the morning sun, and a fisherman raised his arm and swung his net, which spread out like a skirt under the golden sunlight.
Jiangzhi, now a tourist city, has invested heavily in cultural and tourism development.
The TV series "My Own Swordsman", "Love Letter" and "Chinese Paladin" were filmed here one after another, which made it famous.
Jiang Zhi naturally attached great importance to the publicity strategy proposed by Lu Yanhe.
So, Lu Yanhe arranged for someone to film it, Jiang Zhi paid for it, and finally the video was uploaded and promoted across the internet.
This is yet another example of a free-riding publicity tactic.
Jiangzhi Culture and Tourism also followed suit with an advertisement: In Jiangzhi, experience the charm of classical Chinese fantasy.
Good promotional methods must be mutually beneficial and win-win.
Find common ground and cooperate with each other.
Throughout March, "The Legend of Sword and Fairy" launched a major promotional campaign covering various technical aspects such as theme and location, but failed to mention the story and character settings.
This is a gradual process.
If you release everything at once, what will you promote later?
All we need now is to give many people an impression of the TV series "Chinese Paladin" and generate some interest in it.
For those in the industry, the biggest topic of discussion is that the promotional pace and scale of "Chinese Paladin" in March didn't seem to require the production company to spend much on publicity and marketing.
Leveraging external forces and using free-riding publicity.
For another film, a promotional campaign of this scale would require at least eight figures.
What surprised the industry even more was that, despite the immense popularity of "Chinese Paladin," the focus was neither on the stars nor on promoting the plot.
It's all about creating an atmosphere—
The requirements for the drama "Chinese Paladin" are high in all aspects.
That's such a waste.
This is a common feeling among many film and television companies.
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Lu Yanhe didn't take it seriously. He even told all the actors in "Chinese Paladin" not to mention "Chinese Paladin" or their own participation in the show in public before the official promotion of the series began.
A drama series must maintain a sense of mystery, as mystery is the source of anticipation.
The show hasn't even aired yet, and you've already spread the word about it so much. Who's going to be interested in watching your show episode by episode?
What Lu Yanhe finds most perplexing about the promotion of various films and television dramas, especially movies, is that the most memorable scene is almost always the one that circulates most widely online. Frankly, this has its advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is naturally higher viewership, but the disadvantage is whether people who have seen this highlight will still want to watch the film.
Or is it that after seeing the highlights, you feel a sense of satisfaction?
In early April, Lu Yanhe flew to the United States to promote the movie "Buried Alive" with Li Zhibai.
This movie is about to be released.
Released worldwide.
This time, Parameter finally pulled up a bit, releasing simultaneously in twenty-four locations worldwide.
The promotion of "Buried" is not in the style of a blockbuster, but it still goes to several places. In addition to the United States, it will also hold premieres in the United Kingdom, Spain, China and Japan. Of course, these are not the kind of large-scale, grand premieres, but mainly media events for the media.
The promotion of this film was very unified globally.
Point of interest 1: This year's Sundance Film Festival blockbuster.
The second selling point is the theme of this movie: Can a man locked in a coffin escape before the oxygen runs out?
The domestic distribution of "Buried Alive" was handled by Linghe, as was the publicity. Lu Yanhe emphasized that while the film's promotion could praise Li Zhibai's solo performance, it absolutely could not use "outstanding acting skills" as the main selling point. Because for a film of this genre, no one would go to the cinema just because Li Zhibai's acting is exceptional.
This one-man show film starring Li Zhibai will be supported by his fans without any promotion. The focus of the film's promotion is on those who are not Li Zhibai's fans but are enthusiasts of thrillers.
The key is whether we can attract them to the movie theater.
Lu Yanhe and Li Zhibai's last stop for their promotional tour was China.
The question that the media were most interested in was how much they thought the movie "Buried" would gross at the box office.
Lu Yanhe was somewhat speechless and said, "The more effort you put into promoting us, the more box office revenue we can generate."
The main reason is that the global box office performance of "Home Alone" was so outstanding that Chinese media were eager to know whether "Buried" could replicate the miracle of "Home Alone".
This can also easily lead to being overpraised.
Sure enough, the media immediately asked this question.
Do you think Buried can surpass Home Alone's performance?
Lu Yanhe shook his head and said no directly.
The entire audience erupted in uproar.
"Why? Is it because the movie 'Buried' is not as good as 'Home Alone'?"
“It’s because every film is unique and its achievements cannot be replicated. I don’t make any film to surpass any of my previous films,” Lu Yanhe said. “Buried Alive will not be the goal of any of my future works.”
During the promotion of "Buried Alive", the show "The Voice of China" was launched.
Deng Lu, the producer who took over Xin Zixing's production for "The Voice of China," asked if they should collaborate with "Buried Alive" for promotion.
Generally speaking, you shouldn't refuse such free promotional resources.
However, Chen Yin, who had worked with Lu Yanhe on film and television promotion for several years, now genuinely agrees with the principle that promotion that cannot achieve a positive effect is worse than no promotion at all.
"Buried Alive" and "The Voice of China" have absolutely nothing to do with each other.
Therefore, Chen Yin refused outright.
However, Chen Yin suddenly thought of something and approached Lu Yanhe, saying that he hoped to perform the theme song of "Chinese Paladin" in the final episode of "The Voice of China".
The final episode of "The Voice of China" aired at the end of June, which coincided with the peak promotional period for "Chinese Paladin".
Lu Yanhe thought it was quite a good match.
“Okay.” He nodded. “Let Li Zhibai sing his character’s theme song.”
"A Sigh of Freedom"
It's great that an original song, which hasn't even been released yet, was premiered on the last episode of "The Voice of China".
Chen Yin immediately went to communicate with Lin Suyang about Li Zhibai's schedule.
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Soon after, Buried was released worldwide.
This is Li Zhibai's second starring film to be released in China.
Moreover, it was a true one-man show.
Just as Lu Yanhe had guessed, Li Zhibai's fans were incredibly supportive, and the box office on the first day reached 110 million RMB. This wasn't during the Spring Festival or any other major holiday season; it was just an ordinary Friday in April, a slow season.
Of course, this also caused Saturday's daily box office to drop to only 92 million, which is a relatively rare trend.
However, despite this, a box office performance of over 200 million yuan in just two days is still considered very good.
The most crucial factor is Sunday's box office performance.
If Sunday's box office can reverse the decline, it means that the film will have a more promising performance in the market; if it continues to fall, then the film's trajectory will be somewhat precarious.
Meanwhile, Friday box office figures from North America were also released.
Buried opened in 920 theaters and grossed $5.2 million on Friday, a huge success that gave Parameter a surprise that was both unexpected and anticipated.
The Sundance Film Festival still holds a strong reputation in the North American market.
This film, from its director to its lead actors, had virtually no fame; only the screenwriter, Lu Yanhe, was well-known in North America. However, a screenwriter alone cannot guarantee box office success. Those who can reach the level of J.K. Rowling are few and far between.
Parameter's decision to screen "Buried" at the Sundance Film Festival was undoubtedly the right one.
During the promotional period for "Buried," both the media and audiences were discussing how "different" this movie was.
This is not your average thriller.
This is definitely worth seeing in the cinema.
Only in a dark movie theater can you feel the deathly shadow and pressure brought by that cramped space.
In conclusion, thanks to its regular promotion in North America, Buried did indeed attract a considerable audience of this type of film, who were willing to go to the theater as soon as possible to see what the film was all about.
Saturday's box office was the same as Friday's, roughly $5.15 million.
However, the film received a very enthusiastic response on social media.
Many people are discussing this "unusual" movie.
Meanwhile, the box office figures for Sunday in China came out: 84 million RMB, which ultimately did not surpass Saturday's box office, but the total box office is already approaching 300 million RMB.
For "Buried," the film's production cost was no more than $1.5 million, but its global marketing and distribution budget exceeded $7 million. Many people might think this is putting the cart before the horse, as the film production only cost so little, but the marketing and distribution cost several times that amount.
However, this film is unique in this respect. It's not that Lu Yanhe and Parameter were unwilling to spend more money on the film's production, but rather that this was the amount of money required to produce it.
However, if you want to "achieve great results with minimal investment," then your advertising and marketing efforts must be substantial.
Are we really waiting for audiences to spread the word and let everyone know about this movie?
In fact, the opening weekend performance of "Buried" prompted Linghe to further increase its publicity budget and improve its subsequent promotion in China.
Parameter also decided to further increase its publicity budget to promote and market the film globally.
Buried grossed $13.74 million in its opening weekend. Based on the box office model for this type of film, it should have grossed at least $30 million in North America.
Meanwhile, the film also performed well at the box office outside of North America (excluding China, the same applies below), grossing a rough $23 million in its opening weekend.
Especially in Asia, a large portion of the $23 million came from Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. In contrast, its performance in Europe was only so-so.
Of course, for a film with a production and marketing cost of only around ten million US dollars, achieving such box office results is enough to label itself as a "high-flying" success.
Although this film only ranked third at the North American box office, falling behind two other films starring A-List actors, it grossed $80 million in its opening weekend, securing the top spot at the global weekend box office, including its box office in China.
Although Parameter can only enjoy a small portion of the box office revenue in China, compared to the cost, the film can still earn them tens of millions of dollars—and that's just from the box office revenue.
Lu Yanhe kept his word to Zebi Doyle.
Lu Yanhe sent another email to Zebi Doyle: If you had been willing to release "Buried" directly in more than 3,000 theaters, it might have grossed over 100 million in its opening weekend.
Zebi Doyle was speechless for a moment when he saw the email.
Can he say that Lu Yanhe's hypothesis is definitely impossible to realize something that didn't happen?
Lu Yanhe's second email arrived: If I were you, at this point, you should find a few good roles in the projects behind Parameter and send invitations to Li Zhibai.
Just as Lu Yanhe had told Li Zhibai before.
With the release of "Buried Alive," Lee Ji-baek will become a global sensation.
This movie, this character, the focus is entirely on Li Zhibai.
His relaxed, natural, and effortless acting style was fully demonstrated in this confined space and on the screen.
To say that his acting skills are particularly mature is not the case.
But Li Zhibai's performance was so immersive; he had a style that was completely natural once he entered a performance state.
Lu Yanhe couldn't do it, and neither could Yan Liang; they were exceptionally gifted.
Li Zhibai did not make himself appear very mature, nor did he completely change his image to play another person in this movie.
He used Li Zhibai's personality to enter the personality of this character.
If someone who has seen the original Buried will see his version and wonder how it can be so different. Lee Ji-baek's version is completely that of a young man, while Ryan Reynolds' version is more mature.
However, the people in this timeline did not see Ryan Reynolds' version, so without comparison, Li Zhibai's version was the first version.
Li Zhibai's performance in this movie is, to put it another way, similar to Keanu Reeves' performance in "Speed"—men find him charming, and women find him charming too—of course, the definition of charm is different for men and women.
But Li Zhibai's popularity worldwide is consistent.
Honestly, it's really unfair.
Some actors have starred in several globally influential films, but their fan base and popularity are still rather lackluster. This is due to both the actors themselves and the limitations of the film genres.
Some actors, however, become overnight sensations even with a single film that doesn't achieve high box office numbers, or at least doesn't break records, simply because of the film's genre and the type of role they play.
Li Zhibai was the latter.
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Li Yuefeng: Friend, when are you going to write me a script? Friend!
Lu Yanhe looked at the message Li Yuefeng sent him and didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
He replied: I'll definitely contact you if I find a suitable one.
Li Yuefeng: They're all suitable. I'm a great actor, and I can handle any type of role!
Lu Yanhe: It will happen, don't rush. You're so popular now, what's the rush?
Li Yuefeng: ...Compared to you guys, what kind of fame do I have?
Lu Yanhe could only say: You're already very famous. If there's a suitable script for you, we'll definitely contact you.
The global box office success of Buried came less than two months after Home Alone.
Lu Yanhe's success in two films in such a short period of time is remarkable. Putting aside other factors, for Hollywood companies, this means that he has demonstrated his role as the screenwriter—the only point of intersection between the two films—by having two films distributed by different companies, directed by different directors, and starring different actors.
Why is it that despite so many successful films, Timothée Chalamet's salary still can't compare to that of A-list actors? Because he hasn't proven his importance to the box office. Whether it's "Little Women," the "Dune" series, or "Wonka" and "Iron Poet: Legend Unknown" (I have to say, the Chinese title is terrible), the films' box office success isn't centered around him.
Why was Jennifer Lawrence able to ask for such a high salary later on? After starring in a series of films, including "The Hunger Games," she took on an R-rated comedy, "Don't Be Afraid," for which she asked for $25 million. Perhaps the final contract figure was reduced, but it certainly wasn't by much, while the entire film's budget was only $45 million.
Why is she able to get such a high salary for an R-rated comedy that is not a commercial blockbuster?
Because the film's sole selling point is her. Besides her, there are no famous directors or other well-known actors.
In fact, this very ordinary R-rated comedy grossed nearly $90 million worldwide. While the box office wasn't as high as many expected, the film's producers definitely made a profit after selling the rights to streaming services and other sources (Jennifer Lawrence's name alone is enough to command high prices for all the rights fees).
Emma Stone, who has won two Academy Awards for Best Actress, has yet to earn more than ten million dollars per film.
The market is the ultimate judge when it comes to actor salaries.
Moreover, one verification isn't enough; you have to verify it repeatedly. The more verifications you get, the higher your pay will be, until you reach the ceiling of the industry.
After all, the market isn't buying it, so Nicolas Cage has to cut his salary by zero and then halve it.
The market buys it, which is the case with Jennifer Lawrence, where industry norms are broken and production companies obediently sign checks.
Is there another actress who could command a $25 million fee for a low-budget R-rated comedy like "Don't Be Afraid"?
Based on the information currently available, the answer is no.
Darren Wilson told Lu Yanhe: "From now on, we cannot accept any offer for your scripts that is less than $10 million."
Lu Yanhe was both amused and exasperated.
A $10 million offer?
This is a price that only top-tier Hollywood screenwriters can command.
Martin Scorsese's films, if they have screenplays he wrote himself, would cost about the same price.
However, even if such a price were offered, Lu Yanhe might not sell.
He wanted something else.
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When Lee Ji-baek starred in the movie "Buried," his salary was only $500,000.
Now, his asking price in Hollywood has reached $1.5 million.
Rocket-like speed.
Hollywood reacted very quickly, and many scripts came to us immediately.
Li Zhibai returned to China with the script. While slowly reading it, he sent messages to Liu Manbo: "Have you finished revising the script for 'Flying Grass'? Can we start filming this year?"
When Liu Manbo received this news, she felt a mix of emotions.
Li Zhibai has become so popular that Liu Manbo thought he was going to give up on the "Grass on the Grass" project, but he still keeps it in mind.
After the failure of "Nineteen Years of Crime Records," Liu Manbo only got her second chance to direct "Grasshopper" with the support of Li Zhibai. Without Li Zhibai's support, Liu Manbo certainly wouldn't have been able to get a second chance to direct so quickly.
Liu Manbo took a deep breath and sent a message to Li Zhibai: The draft will be finalized this month, and filming will definitely start this year!
Li Zhibai: That's fine then.
Li Zhibai then asked: "Have you gone to see 'Buried Alive'?"
Liu Manbo: I watched it, your performance was amazing.
Li Zhibai: I think the part where I went mad in "Grass on the Grass" could be inspired by the anxious state in "Buried Alive".
Liu Manbo: Shall we give it a try then?
Li Zhibai: Okay, shall we meet sometime soon? I have some thoughts I'd like to discuss with you.
Liu Manbo: Okay.
(End of this chapter)
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